Show Me The Money The Applicability Of Contract Laws Ratification And Tenderback Doctrines To Title Vii Releases,
2010
Barry University
Show Me The Money The Applicability Of Contract Laws Ratification And Tenderback Doctrines To Title Vii Releases, Daniel P. O'Gorman
Faculty Scholarship
No abstract provided.
Expanding The Scope Of The Principles Of The Law Of Software Contracts To Include Digital Content,
2010
California Western School of Law
Expanding The Scope Of The Principles Of The Law Of Software Contracts To Include Digital Content, Nancy Kim
Faculty Scholarship
The Principles of the Law of Software Contracts, or the "Principles," seek to "unify and clarify" the law of software transactions. The drafters, however, excluded "digital content" from the scope of their project. This Essay explains why the scope of the Principles should encompass digital content. The exclusion of digital content creates two different but related problems. The first problem is that it creates what I refer to as "classification confusion." Given the complexity and speed of technological innovation, the task of distinguishing digital content from software may be difficult for courts. The second problem is that it fails to …
Arbitration's Summer Soldiers Marching Into Fall: Another Look At Eisenberg, Miller, And Sherwin's Empirical Study Of Arbitration Clauses In Consumer And Nonconsumer Contracts,
2010
California Western School of Law
Arbitration's Summer Soldiers Marching Into Fall: Another Look At Eisenberg, Miller, And Sherwin's Empirical Study Of Arbitration Clauses In Consumer And Nonconsumer Contracts, Nancy Kim
Faculty Scholarship
Our empirical study examines the role and importance of arbitration clauses in standard form contracts, primarily with other businesses. While much has been written about the impact of mandatory arbitration clauses in consumer contracts, relatively little has been written on mandatory arbitration clauses in customer agreements where the customer was a business and not an individual consumer. In this Article, we specifically address the findings presented in Theodore Eisenberg, Geoffrey Miller, and Emily Sherwin’s study, Arbitration’s Summer Soldiers: An Empirical Study of Arbitration Clauses in Consumer and Nonconsumer Contracts.1 Our study finds that many businesses employ mandatory arbitration clauses in …
Reasonable Expectations In Socio-Cultural Context,
2010
California Western School of Law
Reasonable Expectations In Socio-Cultural Context, Nancy Kim
Faculty Scholarship
Under the objective theory of contract, courts interpret the intent of the parties in adopting a particular contractual term according to the reasonable meaning of that term, or the meaning that a reasonable person would assign to that term. Courts adopt the objective theory to determine all aspects of the understanding between the parties-from the determination of contract formation, to an evaluation of the meaning of written or spoken terms, to an assessment of contract performance. In a series of articles, Professor Melvin Eisenberg explained how modern contract law evolved from the will theory to the classical model, and from …
Expectation Damages The Objective Theory Of Contracts And The Hairy Hand Case A Proposed Modification To The Effect Of Two Classical Contract Law Axioms In Cases Involving Contractual,
2010
Barry University
Expectation Damages The Objective Theory Of Contracts And The Hairy Hand Case A Proposed Modification To The Effect Of Two Classical Contract Law Axioms In Cases Involving Contractual, Daniel P. O'Gorman
Faculty Scholarship
No abstract provided.
Residual-Risk Model For Classifying Business Arrangements,
2010
Brooklyn Law School
Residual-Risk Model For Classifying Business Arrangements, Bradley T. Borden
Faculty Scholarship
No abstract provided.
Misclassifying The Insurance Policy: The Unforced Errors Of Unilateral Contract Characterization,
2010
University of Hawaii
Misclassifying The Insurance Policy: The Unforced Errors Of Unilateral Contract Characterization, Hazel G. Beh, Jeffrey W. Stempel
Scholarly Works
Insurance policies are traditionally classified as unilateral or “reverse-unilateral” contracts, a characterization we find largely incorrect, with problematic consequences for adjudication of insurance coverage disputes. In addition to the general difficulties attending the unilateral classification, the concept as applied to insurance policies is not only unhelpful but incorrect. Insurance policies are more accurately viewed as bilateral contracts. In addition, the unilateral characterization of insurance policies introduces error and inconsistency into the litigation of insurance controversies. In particular, the unilateral view tends toward excessive formalism and focus on so-called “conditions” precedent to coverage, eschewing material breach analysis and encouraging needless forfeitures …
The Insurance Policy As Statute,
2010
University of Nevada, Las Vegas -- William S. Boyd School of Law
The Insurance Policy As Statute, Jeffrey W. Stempel
Scholarly Works
Insurance policies are classified as a subspecies of contract. Although the taxonomy is correct, rigid adherence to this classification system limits the legal system's ability to deal with some of the most problematic and frequently litigated questions of insurance coverage. Restricting conception of insurance policies to the contract model unduly limits analysis of the meaning and function of the policies. In addition, restricting characterization of insurance as a matter of “contract” does not necessarily produce swift, inexpensive, efficient, or uniform decisions (to say nothing about accuracy, justice, or fairness). Within contract law, scholars, and courts differ over the respective primacy …
The Insurance Policy As Social Instrument And Social Institution,
2010
University of Nevada, Las Vegas -- William S. Boyd School of Law
The Insurance Policy As Social Instrument And Social Institution, Jeffrey W. Stempel
Scholarly Works
Insurance policies are classified as a species of contract. Although this characterization is correct, it is unduly narrow if used as the exclusive lens for assessing insurance policies, which are not merely contracts but also are designed to perform particular risk management, deterrence, and compensation functions important to economic and social ordering. Recognizing this has significant implications regarding the manner in which insurance policies are construed in coverage disputes and suggests that policy construction can be improved by not only performing traditional contract analysis of disputed policies but also by appreciating the particular function of the insurance policy in question …
All Dogs Go To Heaven... Or Divorce Court: New Jersey Unleashes A Subjective Value Consideration To Resolve Pet Custody Litigation In Houseman V. Dare,
2010
Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law
All Dogs Go To Heaven... Or Divorce Court: New Jersey Unleashes A Subjective Value Consideration To Resolve Pet Custody Litigation In Houseman V. Dare, Eric Kotloff
Villanova Law Review (1956 - )
No abstract provided.
"The Sole Right ... Shall Return To The Authors": Anglo-American Authors' Reversion Rights From The Statute Of Anne To Contemporary U.S. Copyright,
2010
University of Cambridge
"The Sole Right ... Shall Return To The Authors": Anglo-American Authors' Reversion Rights From The Statute Of Anne To Contemporary U.S. Copyright, Lionel Bently, Jane C. Ginsburg
Faculty Scholarship
The rise in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries of a professional class of writers stimulated authors' demands for better remuneration from their writings. The increase in authors who sought to live from their work, rather than from patronage or personal fortune, likely provided at least one impulse for the author-protective provisions of the 1710 Statute of Anne. Under the regime of printing privileges that preceded the Statute of Anne, authors generally received from publisher-booksellers a one-time payment, made when the authors surrendered their manuscripts for publication. Authors whose works enjoyed particularly high demand might negotiate additional payments for new editions …
Contract Interpretation Redux,
2010
Columbia Law School
Contract Interpretation Redux, Alan Schwartz, Robert E. Scott
Faculty Scholarship
Contract interpretation remains the largest single source of contract litigation between business firms. In part this is because contract interpretation issues are difficult, but it also reflects a deep divide between textualist and contextualist theories of interpretation. While a strong majority of U.S. courts continue to follow the traditional, "formalist" approach to contract interpretation, some courts and most commentators prefer the "contextualist" interpretive principles that are reflected in the Uniform Commercial Code and the Second Restatement. In 2003, we published an article that set out a formalist theory of contract interpretation to govern agreements between business firms. We argued that, …
Origin Myths, Contracts, And The Hunt For Pari Passu,
2010
Columbia Law School
Origin Myths, Contracts, And The Hunt For Pari Passu, Mark C. Weidemaier, Robert E. Scott, G. Mitu Gulati
Faculty Scholarship
Sovereign loans involve complex but largely standardized contracts, and these include some terms that no one understands. Lawyers often account for the existence of these terms through origin myths. Focusing on one contract term, the pari passu clause, this article explores two puzzling aspects of these myths. First, it demonstrates that the myths are inaccurate as to both the clause’s origin and the role of lawyers in contract drafting. Second, the myths often are unflattering, inaccurately portraying lawyers as engaged in little more than rote copying. The article probes this disjunction between the myths and lawyers’ actual practices and explores …
Hoffman V. Red Owl Stores And The Limits Of The Legal Method,
2010
Columbia Law School
Hoffman V. Red Owl Stores And The Limits Of The Legal Method, Robert E. Scott
Faculty Scholarship
According to the overwhelming majority view, promissory estoppel is not an appropriate ground for legally enforcing statements made during preliminary negotiations unless there is a “clear and unambiguous promise” on which the counterparty reasonably and foreseeably relies. Bill Whitford and Stewart Macaulay were among the first scholars to note the apparent absence of such a promise in the case of Hoffman v. Red Owl Stores. Several years ago, after studying the trial record, I concluded that the best explanation for the breakdown in negotiations was the fundamental misunderstanding between the parties as to the amount and nature of Hoffmann’s …
When Your Body Is Your Business,
2010
Mitchell Hamline School of Law
When Your Body Is Your Business, Mary P. Byrn, Morgan L. Holcomb
Faculty Scholarship
Surrogacy in the United States is a multi-million dollar industry in which well paid professionals seek out highly specialized women to fulfill the difficult job of being a surrogate. Surrogates enter lengthy contracts in which they agree, in intricate detail, to provide a service for significant compensation - surrogates are paid well over $22 million dollars a year. This article argues that surrogates are also professionals in this for-profit industry and are required to report surrogacy compensation as income. As a corollary, surrogates may deduct most of their surrogacy related expenses as business deductions. Being a surrogate is a highly …
The Reverse-Morals Clause: The Unique Way To Save Talent's Reputation And Money In A New Era Of Corporate Crimes And Scandals,
2010
University of Richmond
The Reverse-Morals Clause: The Unique Way To Save Talent's Reputation And Money In A New Era Of Corporate Crimes And Scandals, Porcher L. Taylor Iii, Fernando M. Pinguelo, Timothy D. Cedrone
School of Professional and Continuing Studies Faculty Publications
This article sails into the largely unchartered waters of reverse-morals clauses because, to our knowledge, there are no law review or law journal articles that substantially address this still nascent area of law.25 Similarly, our research has not revealed any state or federal cases involving reverse-morals clauses.26 Nor has an actual talent contract containing such a clause been publicly revealed, either in terms of language or the identification of the parties to such a clause,27 although reportedly "an increasingly larger number" of talent are now asking for reverse-morals clauses in the wake of the Enron fallout and …
The Inherent Tension Between Value Creation And Value Claiming During Bargaining Interactions,
2010
George Washington University Law School
The Inherent Tension Between Value Creation And Value Claiming During Bargaining Interactions, Charles B. Craver
Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution
This article will discuss the inherent tension present in almost all legal and commercial negotiations between value creation and value claiming. How should interactants use integrative techniques to discover areas for potential joint gains, and how should they determine the actual value of the gains achieved? The article will then explore the way in which proficient negotiators employ distributive tactics to claim a greater share of the surplus for themselves. Before we examine those issues, however, we must consider different negotiator styles and the ways in which those styles influence value creation and value claiming.
Keep Arbitration Alive: Why The Fairness In Nursing Home Arbitration Act Should Not Be Passed,
2010
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
Keep Arbitration Alive: Why The Fairness In Nursing Home Arbitration Act Should Not Be Passed, Margaret Baumer
Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution
Like it or not, arbitration agreements are part of our lives. Most cell phone and credit card companies include arbitration agreements in their customer contracts. Furthermore, many consumer complaints regarding trades through the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) are resolved through arbitration. However, despite their pervasiveness, consumers generally remain ignorant of arbitration agreements until a dispute arises, whereupon they discover that they must submit to arbitration proceedings, rather than sue sellers. Often, arbitration carries with it the added disappointment of high fees and perceived arbitrator bias in favor of the business entity. The same is true of a nursing …
Where Is Emily Litella When You Need Her?: The Unsuccessful Effort To Craft A General Theory Of Obligation Of Promise For Benefit Received,
2010
Mitchell Hamline School of Law
Where Is Emily Litella When You Need Her?: The Unsuccessful Effort To Craft A General Theory Of Obligation Of Promise For Benefit Received, Edwin J. Butterfoss, Henry Allen Blair
Faculty Scholarship
No abstract provided.
The Promissory Character Of Adequate Assurances Of Performance,
2010
Cleveland State University
The Promissory Character Of Adequate Assurances Of Performance, Michael J. Borden
Law Faculty Articles and Essays
Part I provides the reader with an account of the development of the doctrine of adequate assurances from its earliest roots in the doctrine of anticipatory repudiation. Part II explains the workings of the modern doctrine in the context of a recent case. In Part III, I argue that promises made in response to a demand for adequate assurances can be understood as a class of enforceable promises. In Parts IV and V, I attempt to work out the back-end consequences that would result from treating assurances as enforceable promises.
